Method and apparatus for making gears



Feb. 28, 1928.

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0/ 610221- 021128; line of Mme -Patented Feb. 28,1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

JAMES E. GLEASON, GEORGE H. BRYAN, EYVINID FIR'SEN, AND ALTON P. BLADE, OF

ROCHESTER, NEW-YORK, ASSIGNORS TO GLEASON WORKS, OI ROGEESTERQNEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

IE'I HOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING- GEARS.

Application filed- March 14, 1923. Serial No. 824,962.

This invention relates to a method and machine for cutting gears, and in some'aspects has to do more particularly with the production of straight-toothed bevel gears 5 by what is known as a generating process, according to which a relative rolling motion is efiected between a gear blank and a reciprocating tool, such as would be produced by rolling the pitch cone of the blank on a 10 plane surface. A

A principal purpose of the invention is to produce a machine that will give large-proa pair of alternately reciprocating tools; 15 Incidental to this general purpose, it is a further object of the invention to provide a machine requiring a minimum of adjustable or movable parts, thereby increasing the rugunder fast production operation.

Another purpose of the improvement is to provide a form of generating mechanism that insures giving the proper rolling motion to the gear blank to produce a theoretically correct tooth, while eliminating the necessity of adjusting the tool mechanism for gear blanks of different pitch angles; and instead of adjusting the tool mechanism according to the pitch angle of the blank, the blank is adjusted in each instance to a fixed line of travel of the tool, this result being obtained by mechanism that forms an accurate and theoretically correcttooth. and which lends itself readily to large quantity production and fast cutting operations.

A further object of the invention is to afford a mechanical arrangement that in sures a uniform and steady operation of the moving parts, avoiding any slight irregularities or jar which might otherwise be produced due to the. rolling 'motion of the blank, or when stopping and starting the operation of themachine.

" The invention also includes a number of meritorious features in the mechanism of the apparatus, as will appear from the fol- .-lowing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine emgedness and durability of the mechanism taken centrally of the gear blank and showing a tool in cutting relationship;

Figure 5 i a vertical sectional view taken generally onthe line 55 of Figure 4, with the gear blank support-omitted, and showing the tool mechanism in elev t' nductlon, y abhng a very fast motion of I a Figure 6 is aside elevation, illustrating a the cam shaft and cooperating driving parts in vertical section;

Figure 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view on line 77 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the tool mechanism on line 88 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the gear blank support and indexing mechanism; 7

Figure 10 is an enlarged sectional .view similar to Figure 9, taken in a difi'erent plane;

Figure 11 is an' end elevation of the inso dexing mechanism, showing the position of the parts immediately previous to releasing the index wheel; r

Figure 12 is a similar view showing the parts after they have moved to release the 3g index wheel and permit indexing;

Figure 13 is an enlarged detail sectional view of a portion of the indexing mecha- Figure 14 is a side view of one of the my tool slides and its supporting guide;

Figure 15 is a plan view of the same with thetool in cutting position;

Figure 16 is a similar plan view showing the tool retracted on the return or non-cut- 9s ting stroke of the tool slide;

Figure 17 is a side elevation of the support for the tool mechanism, with the tool slides and guides removed;

Figure 18 is a detail view in elevation of we a portion of the operating mechanism for the tools;

Figure 19 is a sectional view on line 1919 of Figure 17;

Figure 20 is a sectional view on line 2020 of Figure 19;

Figure 21 is a side elevation of the auto matic stop mechanism;

Figure 22 is a vertical sectional view of .the partsillustrated in Figure 21;

Figure 23 is a detailsectional view of a portion of the automatic stop mechanism.

Figure 24 is a sideelevation of the cam which controls the oscillatory movement of the carrier on which the gear blank supportv is mounted;

' Figure 25 is a view illustrating the layout of the cam which controls the feeding motion of the tool. mechanism support; 7

Figure 26 is a sectionalview on line 26-26 of Figure 7; v Figure 27 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the relation of the tools to a blank in the initial position previously to cutting; Figure 28 is a View similar to Figure 27, showing the shape and position of the-tooth after the cutting operation is completed, and

illustrating the profile produced by the generating motion;

Figure 29 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a' known theoretical method of im parting a generating motion to a gear blank, corresponding to rolling the pitchcone of the blank on a plane surface, bymeans of a segment rolling on a crown gear, and

Figure 30 is a diagrammatic view illustrating themethod of. rolling the gear blank according to the present invention.

The principles and features of the invention may be adapted to various types of gear making machines, and the particular embodiment about to bedescribedis intended only as an example of a practical'embodiment of the invention. While this application discloses reciprocating tools of the planing type, the invention is equally applicable to gear making machinery involving other types of cutting mechanisms, such as milling cutters for making straight teeth, circular face milling cutters formaking curved teeth,

or similar grinding or abrasive elements for finishing gears by grinding instead of cutting, and where the term tool or cutter is employed in this application, 1t is intended to cover any cutting orgrinding memberthat can be used to shape a gear tooth. The invention is-also not restricted after completion of each tooth. During the actual cutting operation, the tools have no motion other than their reciprocating travel, and the tooth profile is generated by impartingto the gear blank abodily rolling motion over the tool, corresponding to rolling the blank -on a crown gear, the teeth of which are represented by the cutting tools... To accomplish this motion, the gear blank is mounted on a support which is eccentrically arranged on a carrier, the latter having an oscil atory motion which imparts the bodily rollto the blank, while the necessary turning of the blank about its own axis is produced by a gear segment fixed to the blank support and rolling on a second gear segment. By the term eccentrically, as used in the preceding sentence and elsewhere in the following specification and'claims in describing the relation of the gear blank support to the carrier, is meant that the rot ary axis of the gear blanksupport and the rotary axis of the carrier do not coincide, although these axes do intersect. V

In bevel gear generating machines heretofore using a gear segment for imparting generating motion toa gear blank, the seg- 'ment' has had the same pitch angle as the gear blank and was rolled on a crown gear, and the system of the present invention differs in that the rolling gear segment has a pitch angle slightly less than that of the blank, and instead of rolling on acrown gear rolls on a. bevel gear segmenthaving a pitch angle slightly less than ninety degrees.- 7

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the struc-v ture includes a base 1 having an upright portion 2, in which oscillates the carrier on which the gear blank support is mounted, and 3 is a bed upon which the tool mecha nism support is arranged and slidable back and forth for feeding. The following description will deal first with the tool mechanism, and its support mountedon the bed 3.

bed 3 is provided with a pair of stationary tracks 5, which extend in a direction parallel rier oscillates/ for generation so as to cause a straight; line feeding motion of the tool mechanism toward and from the blankand parallel to the center line of the machine, the tracks affording guideways for the tool mechanism support designated at 6.

The tool operating mechanism which is arranged on and movable with said support, includes a main power member or pulley 7 suitably journalled in" a housing 8 and continuously driven from a belt or other suitable source of power. Journalled coneen trically of the pulley 7 is a rotary spindle 9, see Figure 8, which is driven from the-pulley no i 1-15 I to the axis about which the gear blank car- 

